Back in January, Peter Dutton scoffed at the Albanese government’s cost-of-living measures, such as the $300 electricity bill rebate, for being inflationary “sugar hits”. But on the eve of an election, the opposition leader has done an about-face by promising a similarly sweet bribe in the form of fuel excise cuts.

Under Dutton’s $6 billion proposal, which he detailed in his budget reply speech on Thursday night, the levy would save a one-vehicle household filling up weekly about $14 a tank for 12 months. By comparison, Labor’s small but permanent income tax cuts, which passed through parliament on Wednesday with the backing of the Greens and independents, will return taxpayers up to $536 a year. If elected, the Coalition has pledged to repeal Labor’s bill.